For Those Who Don't Understand
By Jason J, via Submission (@ja.son.j)
For Those Who Don't (Won't) Understand-
These protests aren't just for George Floyd—the same way they weren't just for Trayvon Martin in 2013. They aren't just for the (documented and publicized) hundreds of black folk who have wrongly been the victims of senseless, yet deliberate persecution by federal and state powers since and before #BlackLivesMatter’s inception.
They aren't just because of our treasonous, bigoted, senile, fascist, criminal, rapist and CEO of the United States who has, within less than four years:
-milked whatever sanctity was left directly out of this nation's government by ignoring his own impeachment, promoted discrimination in literally every way, and lacked any amount of tact, professionalism, or respect;
-actively radicalized not only his own cable TV zombies and social media knights-in-tin foil-armor, but every member of his under-qualified, crayon-eating administration by convincing them that our society needs to regress in directions worse than we have ever progressed from to "actually" progress;
-at best ignored, allowed, or eagerly enabled the deaths of at least 100,000 citizens (and growing) to a global pandemic—losses that he has politicized and used to promote hysteria, international distrust, and rebuke science as a means to justify his rejection of responsibility;
-bastardized our systems of communication and journalism with propaganda, vitriol, and repeated condemnation for anyone who does not contribute to his routine, narcissistic auto-fellatio;
-accumulated over twenty sexual misconduct/assault allegations, chose not to believe in climate change (or any science, for that matter), steered this country away from any measure to benefit the environment, pushed for authoritarian rule, emboldened white nationalists, and fraternized with and complimented the same dictators he, at other times, flippantly suggested war with for economic gain—ultimately isolating this country on the world stage beyond timely repair;
-and most recently, and appallingly, invoked a 200 year old act as an excuse to deploy the military if state governors (against their will) won't quell anti-racist protests, making his goal beyond clear: to label any protester as a terrorist, legally allowing for their unprovoked killing—cementing him as not only a disgrace to the American people, but as a fugitive of democracy with intent to renovate the "free" world as he sees fit;
...so until this f***ing thug is gone, this country isn't worth saving. There is no greater violation of liberty than using—no, forcing—your nation's power against its people. Which is where the true conflict resides.
The president doesn't entirely deserve credit, or even blame, for what's currently going on throughout the country, though. This all would have happened without him; he has only accelerated, and unfortunately, made the process more difficult.
Because this isn't the "race war" he wants it to be. Although racism is the primary motivation, this is an issue of power: police are not held accountable—and do not hold each other accountable—for their deplorable behavior and abuse of power; this corruption is even further emphasized by its racially intolerant motivation.
But the news will not tell us this, for it is, by design, in orbit with the nation’s law enforcement—our media's inattention to what matters is a direct result of the militarization of our police and its inherent inequality. Both feed the other in a blatant attempt to distract us and further enable their co-dependence until they have total control. They control the consequences of their own wrongdoing—there is no accountability. And the news loves this. There is little honesty left to scrape off the walls of the proverbial gasoline tank of reporting. No truth. No parity. Only intricately crafted narratives to keep what matters hidden.
The news doesn't exist to keep the people informed anymore. It's there to protect those in power.
And until there is accountability between those in power, those reporting on their power, and those allowed to exist on the volatile whim of both, there will be no justice.
To most reasonable people, this wouldn't be difficult to understand. But remember—you must, as they'd never let you forget about them—the staggering quantity of selfish Americans, loyal, unwavering supporters of their president, who would rather complain, contend, or otherwise dismiss the plight of those they don't agree with than listen, empathize, or make any effort to hide their filthy attitudes.
The people who would willingly lick the blood of someone they choose to hate for no reason off the same indiscriminate officer’s unwashed boots pressed to their faces—because as soon as if and when we allow the evil to run out of opposition, they will simply redefine the enemy with increasingly stringent and repulsive requirements on what makes a "good" and "worthwhile" person, in perpetuity. There is no limit to such avarice and hatred.
So, if that's you—and even if it's not, continue reading—if you deflect genuine discussion to conceal your prejudice, push for centrism in an intrinsically binary situation, consciously endorse oppression and subjugation, or otherwise defend those in power who would not, for even a moment, consider doing the same for you...
What is wrong with you?
Genuinely. That is not a political question.
Why are you okay with the merciless, unwarranted murder of fellow humans at the hands of those who are supposed to protect everyone? Because it's disproportionately done to humans who do not look like you? Think like you do? Matter as much to your government as you do? Would you remain as supportive of those in power if, repeatedly, members of your own community were removed from this world without reason? Of your own family? You would desire justice. You would do anything you could to impose your indignation upon those who wronged you.
But when it happens how it does, in real life, you say: "it happens to white people too;" "It doesn't even happen that much;" "they [the officer] must have had a good reason;" ”it was a stressful situation;” “they [the victim] must have deserved it.” All excuses to avoid admitting you don't like who is protesting. Or that you don't care.
You take advantage of every worst example of protesting to project what you think is going on to maintain your narrative, blame victims, and villainize a community desperate for fairness and the personal valuation they deserve.
“All Lives Matter" is nothing but a disingenuous response to "Black Lives Matter.” "Blue Lives Matter" is inherently meaningless because "blue lives" do not exist. People choose to become officers. It is a job. Not a fundamental aspect of their identity. And while such a position, in theory, should be deserving of respect, they have proven, consistently, undeserving of such respect.
Police officers should be expected to be more morally upstanding than the average person, not less. Right now, they'd rather arrest thousands of (mostly) innocent protesters than three of their (complicit with murder) own.
Every death caused by an inept, wicked police officer was not an isolated situation. How often these losses are black lives is not a coincidence. And even if those same officers wrongly killed a comparable amount of white people, their punishments for doing so would vary as much as how those murders would be reported. These incidents are the hills in the carpet of systemic hatred, begging to expose the neglected floor beneath. That's what is happening now.
If anything, recognize how complicated what is going on is. There are countless bad actors—hostile groups and individuals not associated with the protesters—influencing the face of this movement that the media already has, and will continue to, take advantage of to suppress the true meaning of these gatherings, who they're for, and why they're happening.
Drop the inane straw-man arguments: "so you support riots? property destruction? killing police? societal discord?" Literally nobody, in good faith, is arguing for those things under any other circumstance. But they are necessary symptoms to an illness left long untreated. These symptoms can be easily healed when the illness is cured.
By the way, "Antifa" isn't an organized, definable group, and is usually only a label used to wrongly designate protesters as terrorists and "extremists" for wanting equality and democracy. Besides, being against fascism can only be terroristic when fascism is happening. But that's okay now, right?
For unacceptably long, police officers have abused their power—often for racist reasons—without facing meaningful consequences. Peaceful protests have done nothing. So while destruction and violence may not seem convenient or “correct,” they are obvious extensions of a once peaceful movement. Businesses can recover. Products can be replenished. Lives cannot be.
A few of the ways our precious "blue lives" have handled this first week of protests include:
-tear gassing and pepper spraying peaceful protesters when unprovoked;
-driving SUVs into protesters' barricade, through a crowd;
-incorrectly shooting rubber bullets at too close of a range and directly at their targets; "mysteriously" supplying pallets of bricks at protest sites to instigate chaos to justify their violent responses;
-destroying city-approved supply/medical stations;
-attacking or arresting members of the press;
-and worst of all, feigning support for protesters by joining chants, kneeling, or hiding their weapons—to toy with protesters the way a predator does its prey—only to immediately strike them (after they give the cameras a flattering clip) with any of the aforementioned methods.
Consider that. Looking terrified people in the eyes, giving them a crumb of hope, and then hurting them for no reason. For pleasure. To prove how f***ing awful they are. And how proud they are of being that way.
There are more layers to this than agenda-farming corporations with sinister intentions that will lead the easily impressionable, paranoid, and uncompromisingly radical to believe. Don't just watch one video or read one person's post before making a broad, uninformed assumption of what is going on. The media has and will continue to only focus on content which humiliates or villainizes protesters—especially black protesters—and unapologetically overstates sympathy for the officers "just trying to do their jobs."
Yes, our "free" press does want you to feel bad for the unhinged, not-good-enough-to-be-in-the-military assholes who'd rather hate and divide their communities than protect and serve them. They'll do anything they can to dismiss reality and paint every civil protester as the (relative) handful of anarchists, undercover cops, looters, and white supremacists among them who are actually wreaking havoc... instead of spreading awareness, hope, and advocating for peace, they expect us to panic, isolate, and helplessly depend on our "benevolent" leadership. Just like with the coronavirus when that mattered to the media.
There are probably "good" cops. There are probably even more good humans behind those titles. You may have positive experiences with, and/or are closely related to a cop who does not condone the behavior of their peers and does not submit themselves to the hideous culture they are surrounded by. But do not forget that your experiences are not universal. That there are too many others who have and will spend their entire lives afraid of those same people you love and defend.
And even those "good" cops may not be so if they remain complicit in all of this; their silence, cowardice, or unwillingness to stand for what is right automatically sides them with their fellow oppressors.
Do what you can. Listen and engage. Demand criminal justice, police reform, and support each other. Be safe. Do not give up until something changes.
In less than a week, this government has, with increasing intensity, proven how little it cares for: black people, or any other person of color; moral white people; lawful protesters; the sick, poor, or dependent; the religious; the people who founded this country and their values; and especially the veterans of centuries old wars who fought to keep this country from becoming what it may be soon. The government has failed us. War has been declared on every upstanding citizen. Do not allow our democracy to die. And to think, this only escalated over something which never should have been a debate to begin with: that black lives matter. Despicable.
No accountability. No justice. No peace.
